Paper Talk
DAILY MAIL
Juventus are considering a double swoop for Chelsea's Oscar and Southampton's Graziano Pelle.
Aston Villa's new manager Remi Garde is weighing up a January bid for QPR's Charlie Austin.
Manchester City are eyeing a deal for Rennes youngster Ousmane Dembele.
Everton have joined the chase for Red Star Belgrade prospect Marko Grujic.
Norwich City midfielder Louis Thompson could be among the first names recruited by Blackburn's new manager Paul Lambert in January.
Arsenal's Petr Cech wants to start playing without his protective helmet but doctors have ordered him to keep it on.
Ayoze Perez, Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mane are all on Manchester United's list of targets.
Wayne Rooney has led the calls from the England camp for a 'show of togetherness' at Wembley tonight against the murderous terrorists who attacked Paris.
DAILY MIRROR
Former Barcelona skipper Xavi admits he thought Louis van Gaal was an "idiot" when they first met.
Graziano Pelle has put Juventus on red alert by praising the Serie A champions and admitting he is missing Italy.
Southampton's Virgil van Dijk claims his team-mate Jordy Clasie can be even better than Morgan Schneiderlin.
Wayne Rooney has revealed that the late Sir Bobby Robson tried to sign him for Newcastle.
Premier League chiefs are to hold urgent talks on how to keep stadiums safe from terror attacks.
Carlo Ancelotti is desperate to return to management in the Premier League and wants a job next season
West Ham star Dimitri Payet does not need surgery on an ankle injury after all and is targeting a swift return.
DAILY EXPRESS
Southampton striker Graziano Pelle would like a return to Italy, throwing into doubt a potential move to Manchester United.
Liverpool could offer Xabi Alonso a return to Anfield.
Danny Murphy has hit out at the England call-ups Jesse Lingard and Tottenham pair Dele Alli and Eric Dier, saying "they're nowhere near ready".
Napoli have confirmed they have entered contract talks with Liverpool target Dries Mertens.
THE SUN
Aston Villa are targeting QPR's Charlie Austin to solve their goal-scoring problems.
Roy Hodgson asked Louis van Gaal's permission before selecting rising star Jesse Lingard for England.
Steve Clarke is part of a three-man shortlist for the Fulham hot-seat.
Remi Garde is set to make Steve Round his No 2 at Aston Villa.
Michael Carrick has escaped serious injury - and could be back in less than three weeks.
Manchester City are after Denmark whizkid Emre Mor.
Real Madrid are eyeing a summer move for Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski and are willing to let Cristiano Ronaldo leave for £80m.
DAILY STAR
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe wants Hibernian ace Jason Cummings, 20, to solve his striker's crisis.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Arsene Wenger has repeated his calls for blood testing to be introduced in football and insisted anyone testing positive should have their contracts terminated.
Manchester United are confident that Michael Carrick's ankle injury suffered on England duty will heal in the next two weeks.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been linked with a move to Arsenal.
THE TIMES
Mario Balotelli's hopes of playing at Euro 2016 are in doubt after reports that he will undergo groin surgery later this week.
BBC
Serie A side Juventus are considering moves for Southampton's Italian striker Graziano Pelle, 30, and Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Oscar, 24, but will struggle to meet the financial demands for both deals. (Daily Mail)
Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard, 22, is poised to earn a £50,000 bonus following his England call-up, in line with a clause in his contract. (Daily Star)
Chelsea are monitoring Paris St-Germain's Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani, 28, before the January transfer window. (Le10sport - in French)
Aston Villa want to sign 26-year-old QPR striker Charlie Austin in January. (The Daily Telegraph)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants blood testing to become the norm in football. (Bein Sports)
Bournemouth's 26-year-old winger Matt Ritchie is being watched by Manchester United. (Daily Mail)
Out-of-favour Juventus defender Daniele Rugani, 21, is being linked with a move to the Premier League with both Arsenal and Manchester United considering January moves for the Italian centre-back. (Independent)
Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi says he initially thought Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal was an "idiot" when he first encountered the Dutchman at the Nou Camp. (Espnfc.com)
West Ham have been given minor fitness boosts after France midfielder Dimitri Payet, 28, and Ecuador forward Enner Valencia, 26, saw specialists, who revealed the former will not need an operation on his injured ankle and the latter will be back in January. (Daily Mirror)
New Villa boss Remi Garde is set to appoint David Moyes' former Manchester United assistant, Steve Round, to his backroom staff at Villa Park. (Daily Telegraph)
Barcelona are considering a move for Italy forward Sebastian Giovinco, 28, who plays for Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. (Rai Sport via Marca)
Newcastle's 20-year-old winger Rolando Aarons needs to gain experience on loan before he is ready for Premier League football, according to boss Steve McClaren. (Shields Gazette)
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, 28, says France will play their friendly with England in memory of the Paris attack victims. (Daily Express)
Celtic midfielder Stefan Johansen, 24, says he is struggling for form after the Norwegian media labelled him a failure. (Daily Record)
Italy striker Mario Balotelli, 25, on loan at AC Milan from Liverpool, might miss Euro 2016 following reports he will have groin surgery. (The Times)
Best of social media
Following the Republic of Ireland's 2-0 play-off second-leg victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, which sent them through to the Euro 2016 finals, the official Ireland FA twitter feed posted a picture of the team celebrating in the changing room (along with Superman/kitman Dick Redmond).
Stoke striker Jonathan Walters, 32, was paid the ultimate compliment after scoring twice against Bosnia-Herzegovina to send his country through to Euro 2016 by having his Wikipedia page briefly altered to describe him as a "god amongst men".
On Monday it was reported that Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was open to a move to Arsenal. Some Gunners fans have taken to Twitter to suggest starting a fund to help pay his £600,000-a-week wage demands.
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has posted pictures of himself on Twitter at Oxford University, where he gave a talk to the debating society.
And finally
Liverpool and Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel, 30, channelled his 'inner Simon Cowell' by making an appearance as a judge on Czech and Slovak talent show Superstar, before his country's friendly match with Iceland on Tuesday. (Daily Mail)
One of 17 pairs of football boots designed for the final games of midfielder Steven Gerrard's Liverpool career have sold on eBay, raising £40,000 for the British Red Cross Europe Refugee Crisis Appeal. (Daily Mirror)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Tom Davies
Beauty is truth, and truth beauty, reckoned sought-after wordsmith John Keats, back in the day. For Southampton’s in-demand Graziano Pellè, though, beauty is something closer to home: Italy, his homeland, to be precise.
Pellè misses it, see. “Italy is the most beautiful country in the world,” he sighed, sipping an espresso and picking at plates of olives and cured meats. “And it is that beauty which I am missing.” There’s no room for poetry in the cut-throat world of top-level football and these wistful words can be interpreted in only one way: It’s a come-and-get-me-plea. Possibly.
Sure enough, the Saints striker continued: “Serie A has had a fall recently, but now it is showing growth again. Juventus’ showings in the Champions League and the others teams in the Europa League have lifted it. Within a few years, Serie A will again be among one of the best leagues in the world.
See, he mentioned Juventus! The Italian champions and last year’s Champions League runners-up are duly keeping tabs. Pellè says he is happy in England with Southampton at the moment, “but only time will tell”. It surely will.
What are international breaks for if not for cosseted stars to jaunt home and spread whispers about future employment opportunities among compatriots? Sure enough, the teenaged Red Star Belgrade’s Marko Grujic says he has been told by his Serb compatriot, Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic, that they really fancy him at Stamford Bridge. Talking of Chelsea, the Premier League strugglers are considering ending Radamel Falcao’s loan deal from Monaco and allowing Valencia to swoop for the 29-year-old.
Meanwhile Arsenal are so chuffed with Mesut Özil’s form this season they are set to strike while the German playmaker is hot and offer him a new contract, with his current deal still having two and a half years to run.
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill is so keen for Kyle Lafferty to get some first-team football, somewhere, anywhere, that he welcomes the idea of the Norwich striker joining Leeds United, for the quiet steady life that Elland Road indisputably offers. The Leeds manager Steve Evans is interested, anyhow.
The Mill continues to churn out Cristiano Ronaldo talk, with sources close to the star blabbing that this weekend’s el Clásico could be his final set-to with Barcelona. Evidence of his want-away inclinations doesn’t come much harder than in the revelation that Real Madrid SNUBBED the London premiere of the Portuguese’s self-promotion flick Ronaldo. And what kind of two-bob, unsympathetic outfit fails to send a senior representative several hundred miles for a night out at the cinema?
Álvaro Morata has insisted that literally his only interest at the moment is playing for Juventus, despite speculation linking him with Real Madrid. “The speculation isn’t my problem,” he moaned, before adding: “I’m very happy where I am and I’m not thinking about any other clubs. It’s true that there are a lot of things that aren’t up to me but I’d like to reiterate that I’m happy at Juventus and I have no intention of moving.”
HITC
West Ham co-owner David Gold makes exciting promise over next summer's transfer plans
David Gold has pledged to sign even bigger and better players ready for the Olympic Stadium next summer.
Damien Lucas
The Hammers chief has sounded a warning to rival clubs that he and fellow co-owner David Sullivan are serious about challenging the Premier League elite.
West Ham will leave their Boleyn Ground home of 112 years for the Olympic Stadium at the end of the season.
The club looks to be going there in high spirits with Slaven Bilic leading the East Londoners to sixth place in the Premier League a third of the way through the campaign having collected some famous wins over Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea already this season.
The Hammers are playing football more akin to their attacking roots and have enjoyed two outstanding summer transfer windows in recent years with additions such as Dimitri Payet, Diafra Sakho, Chiekhour Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell, Alex Song, Victor Moses, Enner Valencia and Angelo Ogbonna to name but a few.
'We want to do things better than our competitors'
And as if moving into the huge 54,000 seater arena at Stratford with what is regarded as their best squad in decades was not exciting enough, Gold has now pledged to keep adding to it in his latest column on West Ham's official website.
"I know that Slaven went back to see the new Stadium last week and he is getting even more excited about the impending move to our new home," Gold told whufc.com.
"I have said it before but the changes that are taking place there are unbelievable.
"The players will want to play there and it will help us when it comes to signing even more big name players.
"We want to do things better than our competitors and Slaven knows it will be a big bonus for him."
Olympic Stadium factor already paying off
The fact the club is moving to the Olympic Stadium is already paying off.
Key defenders Winston Reid and James Tomkins and skipper Mark Noble have all signed long-term deals with the Hammers citing the excitement around the move as a contributing factor.
And the likes of Payet, Song and Ogbonna also bought into the fact they would be playing in the last season at such a historical ground before moving to their impressive new home.
Leaving will be emotional, though, of that there is no doubt.
The ground has been graced by the likes of England World Cup winning trio Bobby Moore, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, Billy Bonds, Sir Trevor Brooking, Julian Dicks and more recently that man Di Canio and Carlos Tevez as well as countless greats from opposing teams over the years.
So when they do depart after that final game against Swansea in May, there will be excitement as well as sadness.
Report: West Ham considering swoop for 19-year-old Lille defender Benjamin Pavard
Olly Dawes
According to reports in France from Mercato 365, West Ham United are plotting a move for Lille's teenage defender Benjamin Pavard.
The Hammers have enjoyed success from shopping in French football of late, with striker Diafra Sakho thriving at Upton Park, whilst playmaker Dimitri Payet has been a revelation since joining from Marseille over the summer.
Now, it seems that Slaven Bilic's men are considering a move to raid France once again, with Mercato 365 suggesting that the Hammers are keen on Lille defender Benjamin Pavard.
The 19-year-old has come up through the ranks with Lille, and having joined at the age of just nine, Pavard is now in the Lille first-team, making five league appearances so far this season.
Pavard is capable of playing all across the back four, having featured at left back, centre back and right back during his short career so far, and it now appears that his performances are attracting interest.
West Ham boss Bilic may well look to add a versatile defender who can cover in a number of positions, considering how the futures of James Collins and Joey O'Brien are up in the air, with both of their contracts expiring next summer.
Pavard may not be the finished article just yet, but he appears to have potential, and with West Ham finding gems in French football so far, you can hardly blame them for looking towards Ligue 1 for more reinforcements, if the reports are indeed true.
